International

The US Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday in a case involving national security and the claims of three Muslim men in California who say they were illegally surveilled at their mosque by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The three men — Yassir Fazaga, imam of the Orange County Islamic Foundation, Ali Uddin Malik and Yasser Abdelrahim — filed …

KABUL: Ariana Afghan Airlines on Monday resumed regular flights from Kabul to Dubai, reopening a heavily used international route that had been suspended since the Taliban victory over the Western-backed government in August. Ariana will operate daily flights, charging $550 for a one-way ticket, the state-run airline said on its Facebook page. A spokesman said there had been heavy demand …

Afghanistan’s foreign ministry confirmed on Tuesday that a “senior Afghan delegation” led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi will visit Pakistan tomorrow. The spokesman of the foreign ministry Abdul Qahar Balkhi made the announcement on Twitter. According to the spokesman, the visiting delegation will discuss bilateral ties between the two countries as well as the economy, transit, refugees and expanding …

MUMBAI: India’s manufacturing capital Chennai came to a standstill on Sunday with many areas flooded after the southern Indian coast was battered by heavy rainfall overnight, prompting authorities to issue warnings and evacuate people from low-lying areas. Local media showed footage of cars submerged under water, uprooted trees and people being rescued on rubber boats in various parts of Chennai, …

NEW DELHI: Indian police are seeking the owners of around 100 social media accounts accused of sharing “fake news” after mob attacks on mosques in the country’s northeast. Last month’s violence in Tripura state erupted on the sidelines of a rally for hundreds of followers of a right-wing Hindu nationalist group. The incident appeared to be a revenge attack prompted …

WASHINGTON: A nongovernmental estimate of US costs for the 20-year war in Afghanistan is more than double the calculation made by the US Department of Defence (DOD), says an official report. The Special Inspector General for Afgh­anistan Reconstruction (SIG­AR), an official agency that reports directly to Congress, released its latest findings this week, focusing on how the ever-soaring costs of …

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations children’s agency kicked off a polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan on Monday, the first nationwide campaign to fight the disease in three years. Naikwali Shah Momim, the National Emergency Operations Coordinator for the polio programme at Afghanistan’s health ministry, told Reuters the campaign had started in various parts of the country on Monday, …

GLASGOW: COP26’s first week saw keynote pledges to end deforestation, phase out coal, and mobilise trillions for green investment. But observers say there is a gulf between host Britain’s proclamations and the emissions cuts that must be achieved. Mohamed Adow, director of the Nairobi-based climate think tank Power Shift Africa, said that there had been “two realities” at the global …

The man who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at mosques in Christchurch is considering appealing against his life sentence, saying his guilty plea after the 2019 attack was obtained under duress, his lawyer told state radio on Monday. White supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 31, was sentenced to jail for life without parole last year for the murder of 51 people and attempted murder of …

CAPE CANAVERAL: High wind off the Florida coast has prompted SpaceX to delay the return of four space station astronauts in orbit since spring. The US, French and Japanese astronauts were supposed to leave the International Space Station on Sunday, with their capsule splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday morning. But with gusts exceeding safety limits, SpaceX …